A New Book

In my most recent post, I said that I had completed a big project. It is completing the writing of Exterminating Poverty: The incredible true story of the eugenic plan to get rid of the poor and the Scottish doctor who fought against it.

The book tells the story of Dr Sutherland’s fight against eugenics in Britain 100 years ago, covering the circumstances that led to the Stopes v Sutherland libel trial, the trial itself, and the aftermath.

It includes many shocking revelations about eugenic science and the inhumanity of its proponents as well as the contemporary manifestation of Stopes’ project in our times. This last part is important, because it shows that, contrary to popular belief, eugenics did not cease in 1945 so much as assume a new disguise.

The title of the book is taken from a letter written by Sir James Barr, ex-President of the British Medical Association who wrote to Dr Stopes to congratulate her on opening the Mothers’ Clinic and setting up the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress:

“You and your husband have inaugurated a great national movement which will exterminate poverty and get rid of our C3 population. The only way to have a A1 population is to breed them.”

Exterminating Poverty is the culmination of years of research, including (uniquely) Dr Sutherland’s personal papers, Dr Stopes’ papers in the Wellcome Library and the British Library and the archive of the Archdiocese of Westminster. The project was completed in conjunction with my brother, Neil Sutherland.

Exterminating Poverty will be available for sale on 15 January 2020 on the Amazon/Kindle platform. For further information and resources, go to exterminatingpovertybook.com.

Mark Sutherland, Curator, hallidaysutherland.com